Real-Life Homeschooling From the city to the country, apartments to split-levels, you'll enter each household and see education in action. Discover the challenges and rewards of tailoring instruction to each child's needs while catering to his or her inquisitiveness and curiosity. See why the number of children being taught by their parents is growing nationwide -- at home, there are no overcrowded classrooms, no unknown dangers lurking in the halls, and no doubts as to the quality of the education. Whether you are just contemplating homeschooling or are a veteran seeking fresh ideas and help in overcoming obstacles -- look no further: Real-life Homeschooling shows just how practical and rewarding it is to educate children and provide them with what they need most -- you!

    So begins this controversial and enlightened book by Roger Schank, Ph.D., a world-renowned expert on teaming, who believes that every day of the school year our children are being failed by an academic system that does nothing to stir a lifelong passion for learning.In this lively, sometimes alarming book, Schank shatters the myths about how children learn and offers candid advice for parents who want to raise kids with gumption, ambition, creativity, inquisitiveness, and analytic and verbal proficiency.

    It is also, fortunately, not a matter of luck. There are many things to understand about how children’s minds operate and what they need from those who look after them so they can develop into the best version of themselves.The Good Enough Parent is a compendium of lessons, including ideas on how to say 'no' to a child one adores, how to look beneath the surface of 'bad' behaviour to work out what might really be going on, how to encourage a child to be genuinely kind, how to encourage open self expression, and how to handle the moods and gloom of adolescence.Importantly, this is a book that knows that perfection is not required – and could indeed be unhelpful, because a key job of any parent is to induct a child gently into the imperfect nature of everything. Written in a tone that is encouraging, wry and soaked in years of experience, The Good Enough Parent is an intelligent guide to raising a child who will one day look back on their childhood with just the right mixture of gratitude, humour and love.

    Strum a different song every day with easy arrangements of 365 of your favorite songs in one big songbook! The Daily Ukulele features ukulele arrangements with melody, lyrics and uke chord grids and are in ukulele-friendly keys that are particularly suited for groups of one to one hundred to play and sing. Includes favorites by the Beatles, Beach Boys and Bob Dylan, folk songs, pop songs, kids' songs, Christmas carols and Broadway and Hollywood tunes, all with a spiral binding for ease of use. Also features a Tips & Techniques section, chord chart, and vintage ukulele-themed photos and art throughout. The Daily Ukulele offers ukulele fun all year long!

    He or she is becoming an independent young adult and beginning to make decisions for the future. Yet growing concern about the negative social pressures, safety, and efficiency of our traditional high schools has prompted many parents just like you to teach their teenagers at home. With Homeschooling: The Teen Years as your guide, you'll discover it's not as daunting a task as you've been led to believe. Using real-life stories from dozens of families, this book reveals the secrets of making homeschooling work for you and your teen. You'll discover how to:·Work with your teen to create a unique, individual learning experience ·Make coursework interesting, challenging, and fun ·Allow your teen to discover the best vocational path, including selecting a college ·Know when your teen has "completed" high school ·And much more!"Contains three of the most helpful sentences I've ever read on the question of homeschooling: 'Just start.' 'You will make mistakes.' 'No big deal.' What excellent advice! One of the most thoroughly helpful books I've read in years. If you're homeschooling a teenager you'll want—and need—this outstanding book!" — Helen Hegener, managing editor of Home Education Magazine"Am I crazy? Homeschool my teen? But how do I do it, when should I do it, where do I find information, and is this really a good choice? If this sounds like you, stop shopping and start reading. This book provides insights and solutions to questions from A to Z. Highly recommended!" — Cindy Stanley, sponsor of the Homeschooling for Everyone Conferences"Lots of practical tips, examples, and help. I loved the smorgasbord of ideas from other homeschooling parents of teens, showing the wide range of ways to learn and excel." — Judith Waite Allee, coauthor of Homeschooling on a Shoestring

    It shows parents, baby-sitters, and daycare providers how to:Save money by making your own paints, play dough, craft clays, glue, paste and other suppliesPrevent boredom during even the longest stretches of rainy or cold weather with ideas for indoor play like newspaper golf, magnet magic, the listening game, red light/green light, and hand puppetsHelp children learn to have fun in the kitchen making fruit kebabs, popsicles, homemade peanut butter, a happy-face sandwich, alphabet cookies, animal pancakes, finger Jell-O, popcorn ball creatures, and the best chocolate chip cookies in the whole worldTeach your child practical skills like setting the table, putting away the silverware, sorting socks, sewing practice, and carpentry (hammering golf tees into Styrofoam, with a toy hammer)Introduce your child to numbers and counting with activities like "One-Two, Buckle My Shoe," telling time, coin and stamp collecting, sorting a mixed-up deck of cards by numbers and learning how to find today's date on a calendarPrepare your child for reading by working on an alphabet puzzle, making alphabet cookies, making an alphabet book, and connecting the dots in alphabetical order to make a pictureGet your child started with music and rhythm by making a pie-plate tambourine, keeping the rhythm to a song on the radio with homemade rhythm blocks or shakers, or make music with musical glasses (filled with different amounts of water)Get your child moving with dances like "Hokey Pokey," "Skip to My Lou," "Ring Around the Rosie," and "London Bridge"Encourage your child to enjoy quiet activities like reading wordless picture books, working on puzzles, and watching clouds -- and then drawing themIntroduce children to nature with a variety of outdoor adventures from nature walks and picnics to backyard camping, bird feeding, mud painting and making waxed leavesStart children growing things by planting apple seeds, avocado seeds or garlic cloves; or learning how to grow carrots, beets or sweet potatoes by putting cuttings into waterCelebrate holidays and other occasions with special projects and activities for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Easter and PassoverKeep children occupied on car trips by playing "I See A-B-C" or reciting "30 Days Hath September"

    These skill areas include sensory perceptions, body coordination, language, understanding of numbers, and movement. This practical, color-illustrated parenting book is filled with activities and instructions for overseeing children as they carry out a variety of learning activities. Most activities will seem simple to parents, because once mastered, adults perform them automatically. However, toddlers experience a sense of accomplishment and self-worth when they learn to perform them independently. The many activities start with dressing and personal hygiene, then go on to include . . .Pouring activitiesThreading and sewing activitiesPeg activitiesCutting with scissorsSorting activities by touchA color matching gameMaking musical scales with bottles and waterUsing alphabet tiles to make wordsGrowing things in a window boxMaking finger puppetsActivities are described in detail and include checklists of needed items, as well as variations and related activities for children to try.

    He puts forth his thesis with a rhetorical style that is passionate, logical, and laden with examples and illustrations.” ForeWord Magazine“Weapons of Mass Instruction is probably his best yet. Gatto’s storytelling skill shines as he relates tales of real people who fled the school system and succeeded in spite of the popular wisdom that insists on diplomas, degrees and credentials. If you are just beginning to suspect there may be a problem with schooling (as opposed to educating as Gatto would say), then you’ll not likely find a better expose of the problem than Weapons of Mass Instruction.” Cathy Duffy Reviews"In this book, the noisy gadfly of U.S. education takes up the question of damage done in the name of schooling. Again he touches on many of the same questions and finds the same answers.  Gatto is a bold and compelling critic in a field defined by politic statements, and from the first pages of this book he takes even unwilling readers along with him. In Weapons of Mass Instruction, he speaks movingly to readers' deepest desires for an education that taps their talents and frees frustrated ambitions. It is a challenging and extraordinary book that is a must read for anyone navigating their way through the school system." - Ria Julien - Winnipeg Free PressJohn Taylor Gatto’s Weapons of Mass Instruction focuses on mechanisms of familiar schooling that cripple imagination, discourage critical thinking, and create a false view of learning as a by-product of rote-memorization drills. Gatto’s earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, put that now-famous expression of the title into common use worldwide. Weapons of Mass Instruction promises to add another chilling metaphor to the brief against schooling.Here is a demonstration that the harm school inflicts is quite rational and deliberate, following high-level political theories constructed by Plato, Calvin, Spinoza, Fichte, Darwin, Wundt, and others, which contend the term “education” is meaningless because humanity is strictly limited by necessities of biology, psychology, and theology. The real function of pedagogy is to render the common population manageable.Realizing that goal demands that the young be conditioned to rely upon experts, remain divided from natural alliances, and accept disconnections from the experiences that create self-reliance and independence.Escaping this trap requires a different way of growing up, one Gatto calls “open source learning.” In chapters such as “A Letter to Kristina, my Granddaughter”; “Fat Stanley”; and “Walkabout:London,” this different reality is illustrated.John Taylor Gatto taught for thirty years in public schools before resigning from school-teaching in the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal during the year he was named New York State’s official Teacher of the Year. Since then, he has traveled three million miles lecturing on school reform.

    An Educational Publishing Foundation Book.

    Covering Sid's early years in South Africa and life as a ladies' hairdresser, his obsession with gambling and women, his questioning by Scotland Yard in a murder case, Hancock's Half Hour and the Carry On films, and Sid's death on stage at the age of 63, Cliff Goodwin reveals the amazing truth behing the legend.

    Author Gemma Elwin Harris has lovingly compiled weighty questions from precocious grade school children—queries that have long dumbfounded even intelligent adults—and she’s gathered together a notable crew of scientists, specialists, philosophers, and writers to answer them.Authors Mary Roach and Phillip Pullman, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, chef Gordon Ramsay, adventurist Bear Gryllis, and linguist Noam Chomsky are among the top experts responding to the Big Questions from Little People, (“Do animals have feelings?”, “Why can’t I tickle myself?”, “Who is God?”) with well-known comedians, columnists, and raconteurs offering hilarious alternative answers. Miles above your average general knowledge and trivia collections, this charming compendium is a book fans of the E.H. Gombrich classic, A Little History of the World, will adore.

    Unfortunately, in trying to help develop these traits, parents can increase their children’s anxiety and make them afraid of making mistakes without realising it. Raising Confident Kids will equip you to avoid common pitfalls and create positive parenting habits. Bestselling parenting coach Nadim Saad draws on the latest research in child psychology, neuroscience and the Growth Mindset to offer parents 10 practical ways to nurture their children's self-esteem and ensure that they grow to become happy and confident adults. Discover the 5 typical mistakes that can affect children's self-esteem and how to avoid them Quickly learn and apply step-by-step solutions to grow your children's confidence and self-esteem Help your children develop a Growth Mindset so that they embrace new challenges and are unafraid of making mistakes Gain practical understanding of how to apply these tips and techniques to family life thanks to real-life examples

    Brazelton introduces new information on physical, emotional, and behavioral development. He also addresses the new stresses on families and fears of children, with a fresh focus on the role of fathers and other caregivers.

    Parents will be inspired to break free of conventions, unleash their child's unique creative genius, cultivate determination, and create an authentic atmosphere of learning.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR: In the mid-1990's, Deborah Taylor-Hough set up one of the first Charlotte Mason homeschooling websites and edited The Charlotte Mason Monthly ezine. Debi currently edits The Charlotte Mason eMagazine and blogs at CharlotteMasonHome.com